This is something that will no doubt annoy a few people here, so I apologize in advance. But it's something I've been thinking about since I listened to "Out of Sand". The fact is that my first reaction to anything Ed does these days since to be... annoyance. Like there's something about his voice or singing approach that just bugs the hell out of me. I'm trying to examine that. I wonder how much of it is my own changing tastes, how much is Ed's vocal tics increasing dramatically in the last few years, and how much has to do with hanging around this message board where we harp on Ed's every move and we've painted a distorted and unflattering picture of him as a greedy, bumbling dork with no vocal control. Has RM poisoned my perception of him forever? My reaction to that "Nothingman" performance wasn't "wow that's beautiful", it was more like a mixture of exasperation and disgust. I guess that's on me. Maybe I've reached the point of no return with PJ/EV.

_________________I have so many memories of driving down... Todman Ave

This is something that will no doubt annoy a few people here, so I apologize in advance. But it's something I've been thinking about since I listened to "Out of Sand". The fact is that my first reaction to anything Ed does these days since to be... annoyance. Like there's something about his voice or singing approach that just bugs the hell out of me. I'm trying to examine that. I wonder how much of it is my own changing tastes, how much is Ed's vocal tics increasing dramatically in the last few years, and how much has to do with hanging around this message board where we harp on Ed's every move and we've painted a distorted and unflattering picture of him as a greedy, bumbling dork with no vocal control. Has RM poisoned my perception of him forever? My reaction to that "Nothingman" performance wasn't "wow that's beautiful", it was more like a mixture of exasperation and disgust. I guess that's on me. Maybe I've reached the point of no return with PJ/EV.

I have a similar reaction, though it has more to do with him positioning himself as a sort of rock-hippy-shaman, when he's actually a millionaire surfer dude who's married to a model. Which doesn't make him a bad guy or anything. But just sort of annoying. Like, I imagine he considers himself a very deep thinker, and I just don't think he's that guy any more.

I also struggle with this to some extent, I found that version of Nothingman really annoying too. Weird timing, wonky pitch, out of breath, the works.

I couldn't care less about his wealth or that he's married to a model, but I do think there's been a bit of a change in his stage persona over the last five or six years. Whether it's because he's more in thrall to Springsteen than ever before or some other reason, he seems a lot more extroverted and comfortable playing the role of rock frontman than he did before. Sometimes he verges into simply being vulgar or crass in a way that I can't imagine him doing on your average 1995 (or even 2005) show. It's quite off-putting.

This is something that will no doubt annoy a few people here, so I apologize in advance. But it's something I've been thinking about since I listened to "Out of Sand". The fact is that my first reaction to anything Ed does these days since to be... annoyance. Like there's something about his voice or singing approach that just bugs the hell out of me. I'm trying to examine that. I wonder how much of it is my own changing tastes, how much is Ed's vocal tics increasing dramatically in the last few years, and how much has to do with hanging around this message board where we harp on Ed's every move and we've painted a distorted and unflattering picture of him as a greedy, bumbling dork with no vocal control. Has RM poisoned my perception of him forever? My reaction to that "Nothingman" performance wasn't "wow that's beautiful", it was more like a mixture of exasperation and disgust. I guess that's on me. Maybe I've reached the point of no return with PJ/EV.

Like most here, I fell in love with this band, not because of image, but because the way the music made me feel. Most of that was due to the way Edś vocals made me feel. I had a hard time loving Porch when they dropped the vocal that brought the song back in after the break. I loved ẗhe wrong child" tag because of the way Edś voice filled up the arena. I put Don´t Be Shy from 98 on so many mixed tapes for friends. This one from last week didn´t illicit the same feeling. It´s not some outside force I am imposing on the music, itś what the music is no longer doing for me.

That isn´t to say that Pearl Jam can´t still put me in that place. A lot of LB gave me that great feeling and I am thankful for that. 10/22/14 had some brilliant moments (sleight of hand, OtE, etc.) and was overall a great show. That feeling is just harder to come by with the way Ed sings now.

I'm not Coldplays biggest fan but think about what they were doing here, what it was for. Personally I liked the piano for nothing man, gave a new twist to it (not saying I prefer it). I thought Chris sang ok, didn't typecast himself into singing high pitch...

_________________GET LONDON OUT OF THE UK. WE ARE NOT BRITISH, MIDDLE ENGLAND DOES NOT SPEAK FOR US.